publishing material no longer available in English + translating materials no longer available in English

sacred role of the book

books in artistic practice - not as catalogue or afterthought - not asking distinguished curators to write praise/analysis of the show in their books as it resembles a form of insider trading - which would be illegal in any other field, but is somehow the modus operandi in the art world

we don't allow anyone to write about us in our books - if i commission you, you won't critique me - it is not fertile territory for a critque

amphiboly - cognitive dissonance - poetics & polemics
two ideas one butting up against the other
Berlin Wall (fall of communism, 20th century) VS Great Wall of China (political Islam of XXI)
two registers as well it could be

"There is no LEFT anymore."

Marx VS Mohammed
(Norman Brown) VS(James Joyce)
two social critiques Marxism and Islam - line from Norman Brown that both believe in one world or none - not in a pejorative sense but in a sense that one cannot be prosperous while another in front is deprived - bringing unexpected things together

ANTI-MODERNIST NOT ANTI-MODERNISM
challenging occidental ideas of future (ahead) and past (behind) - provided an example from a non-western culture

practice is not about ourselves - our practice is only collaborative because it is not about our selves

interested in the "FACULTY OF SUBSTITUTION" - we never tell the story frontally - circuity - going around

interested in representation in a larger

we are not experts on a region - impossible to be an expert in their designated geographical area with the hundreds of cultures and languages present - exactly this idea we are working against - we are not interested in the merely specific

SECULAR RAGE - Poland and Turkey as countries grappling with faith/society relationship - consensus that faith is reactionary in France, other western Euro nations - we work against this notion of being beyond faith - we work against consensus in general

interested in NORMAL people, LAYMEN - often the best collaborators are not the academic experts, but the hobbyists

how to make something seemingly remote immediate and something immediate remote

we are devoted to those things we don't know

research process - 2 yrs of bibliographic, academic research - then 1 yr of how to convey and how to present - embarking on a journey